Year of the RDCP's
by Toolazy2write
Summary: Set 5 years before the start of RWBY, follow a small town gunslinger, a grenade happy inventor, an affluent rebel, and a cat-girl with wanderlust in their adventures at Beacon and the world of Remnant. Still accepting OC submissions for now.
1. Prologue 1: Hob and Goblin

**Been a long time I really worked on anything so I figured it would be best too just throw myself headlong into something, and what better place than the RWBY universe where everything is so fresh, new, and full of bullets and explosions.**

**Disclaimer: Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth own RWBY. If I owned it...well I would probably just be telling this same story.**

* * *

Robin fidgeted in his seat at the small kitchen table. Never in his short life had he ever felt so uncomfortable in the Cappson family cottage. He began to absentmindedly fiddle with one of the tails of signature redcap while nervously dodging eye contact with the older man sitting across the table from him sipping coffee and looking over his scroll. After a few more moments of heavy silence the man set down his scroll and turned his attention to Robin, "There's no need to be nervous Robin, I'm just here to ask you a few questions."

"You another one of those reporters from the city?" Robin asked cautiously earning a smug smile from the man.

"Reporters you say? I'm not surprised, it's not everyday someone your age does something so recklessly heroic and comes back unscathed," He took a sip of his coffee and paused to savor the taste. "But no, I'm not a reporter. I'm actually an acquaintance of your grandfather. In fact I even knew your mother for a brief time."

"You knew mom?" Robin perked up at this leaning forward in his seat.

"Indeed I did, she was a fine huntress before she retired…if not a little rough around the edges." The man chuckled lightly. "But let's get back to why I am here. I'd like you to tell me about the Beowolf attack."

"Not much to really tell. You could just check the papers if you wanted to know." Robin started to feel uncomfortable again, he was never fond of being the center of attention.

"I'll be the judge of that. Why don't you just start at the beginning?"

"Okay, well it all started about a week ago…"

_**Flashback**__**...**_

Robin sat on the small stone wall that encircled the village. He lazily peered out over the snowy field into the cloudy sky, his metal boots tapping against the stone brick wall as he swung his feet back and forth, "_I hope grandpa helps me with combat practice today._" For years now he'd been helping his grandpa design, build, and test weapons for huntsmen and huntresses. Every time he brought up the idea of leaving home to follow his dreams of becoming a huntsman his grandpa would scoff at the idea. "Boy be patient, mankind didn't harness the power of Dust in a day," Before returning to his forge. "_If this keeps up, I'll never get into Beacon_." Robin thought tossing a pebble into the thick snow of the field.

He was pulled from his reverie by the frantic cries of a man barreling through the tree line of the forest and into the field. Robin snapped into actions and hoped from the wall running to meet the man. "Run! Run! They're coming!" The cries of the man rang through the air as he stumbled to the ground about halfway through field.

Robin skidded to a halt in front of the man he now recognized as Mr. Fulter, one of the loggers who worked at the lumber yard outside the village, "Mr. Fulter! Mr. Fulter what's going on? What's coming?" Mr. Fulter reached out and took hold of Robin's shoulders, his hands trembling.

"Beowolves kid! Beowolves! They attacked the yard, most of the guys got to safety, but I got separated and they chased me. They ain't far behind me, least two dozen. We gotta run kid!"

Robin's eyes narrowed, he could hear a commotion coming from the forest, "Listen Mr. Fulter. Go into town and get my grandpa, he'll know what to do." The older man stared up at Robin for a minute.

"What about you kid?"

"I'll hold them off." The sound coming from the forest was getting louder, breaking through the chilly air. "Hurry!" Mr. Fulter stumbled to his feet and made a break for the village as the first of the Beowolves emerged from the forest letting loose a primal howl. Robin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and un-holstered his pistols, "_You can do this, deep breaths, just remember your training._" Ten Beowolves came charging through the field now with more flooding through the trees. Robin took another breath raising the pistols and taking aim, then in an instant he opened fire. The opening volley connected with the head of the pack first ripping into its shoulder then into its head sending splintering fragments of red and white bone into the air. "_Just…a little….closer….NOW!_" Robin threw his arms behind him and pressed the button on the handles of his pistol and a pair of powerful explosions erupted from the second barrel of his guns launching him across the field towards the mass of Grimm.

As he barreled through the air he rolled his body forward before colliding with a Beowolf, bringing his heavy iron boot down on its skull with a sickening crunch. Before the now lifeless body could give way Robin pointed his guns at the Grimm on either side of him and fired a shot into each of their heads. At such close range the blasts left nothing behind of the monsters' heads. Quickly firing off another pair of explosions in front of him sent him flying back flipping through the air before landing some yards away skidding to a halt through the snow. The beasts stood stunned for a moment giving Robin enough time to eject his clips and swing his guns back to the small auto-loader on the small of his back. Once he heard the satisfying metallic click of the new clips locking into place he swung his guns back around as another wave of the Beowolves charged forward at him. He fired three shots into the one coming at him from the front, the bullets tearing through it, then ducking under the swipe aimed at his head from the Beowolf attacking from right. He brought one of his guns up and fired an explosion into the beast blowing it away and launching him hard into the chest of the Beowolf lunging at him from the left. The collision stunned it giving Robin enough time to dig in one of his feet into the ground and pivot in the snow before firing a round of shots into the Grimm before it could even hit the ground. The rest of the pack was charging at him now so he blasted forward hurtling at pack at top speed, but at the last minute aimed his guns down and fired another explosion sending him flying into the air high above the Grimm. Robin couldn't stifle a chuckle before he started raining down shots at the startled Beowolves watching as they tried to scatter. When he landed he threw his guns up and fired an explosion to his left and to his right claiming three or four more in each blast before weaving between claws as the rest of the pack converged on him in the center.

The world became a whirl of motion, gunshots, and explosions. He lost track of which Beowolf he was aiming at and let instinct take over. After a few more seconds he finally came to a stop, panting heavily. He looked out over the field at the unmoving Grimm, black smoke lazily rising from their bodies. He stood stunned for a second until the realization hit him and he could no longer contain himself. "I DID IT!" He cried out throwing his arms into the air in triumph. Unfortunately his victory was short lived as one of the unmoving Beowolves sprung to life and stuck him in the chest with a powerful claw sending him reeling off his feet into a nearby tree. His head collided with the trunk hard and blackness played at the edge of his vision as he watched the Grimm stalk towards him. He tried to reach for his guns, but they landed just out of his reach. The Beowolf now loomed over him, claw raised. The last thing he heard before he slipped into unconsciousness was the loud report of a gun in the distance.

_**End of Flashback**__**…**_

"I woke up later at Doc Hayfield's, Grandpa said he killed the last Beowolf. I was lucky he showed up when he did I guess." Robin scratched the back of his neck while the older man just peered at him from over his dark spectacles, a faint grin playing across his features.

"That's quite a story." The man set down his mug and extended his hand across the table. "Would you mind letting me see your weapons?"

"Wha…you mean Hob and Goblin? Oh sure." Robin fumbled with his holsters before passing the guns to the man who reverently picked up one and carefully inspected it.

"Impressive craftsmanship. Truly a Cappson original." The man said running his hand gently along the length of the barrel. Robin blushed and begun to laugh nervously.

"Yeah they really are great. Took me and my grandpa awhile to work out the kinks."

"Oh Really." The older man cocked an eyebrow and set down the gun.

"Well yeah. Y'see after mom and dad died, I decided I wanted to become a huntsman. It took a while to get grandpa to warm up to the idea, but once he did he said 'If yer' gonna go out and fight Grimm you better have something that will keep yer' hide safe', so we went to work and tried a lot of different ideas. We tried swords, gun-swords, spears, and a whole mess of other ideas. Problem was I wasn't exactly suited for most of them cause…" Robin shrunk in his seat a little. "Cause of my size. Grandpa says it runs in my grandma's side of the family, my mom was real short too. I was always a pretty good shot so grandpa figured since I wasn't suited for swords and such he might as well make something I could use to compensate."

"And that was these?" The older man gestured at the guns.

"Yup, Cappson model high impact handguns fitted with high powered explosive dust cannons," Robin beamed looking at his prized weapons. "It took a while to get the hang of 'um, but grandpa asked some old guy he knew who teaches up at one of those combat schools up in Vale to come down and train me."

"Did he now?" The man seemed to becoming more interested in Robin's story.

"Yeah, it took a few weeks, but after that I had the hang of 'um so I could start training on my own or with grandpa."

"I see, it's no wonder someone your age had no trouble dealing with a pack of wild Grimm with no formal training."

"I guess, but I hope someday I'll be able to go to Beacon and actually start really training to become a huntsman." Robin gave a wistful sigh while the man clasped his hands in front of himself in a contemplative manner looking at the boy.

"I may be able to help with that Mister Cappson."

"What do you mean?" The man merely smirked pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Robin, my name is Professor Ozpin, and I am headmaster at Beacon Academy. Your grandfather believed you were ready to enroll asked me to come here today and see for myself." The Professor stood taking his cane and moving towards one of the windows, peering out at the snow beginning to fall.

"Y-you really mean it sir?" Robin stood from his seat with wide hope filled eyes when the back door of the cabin swung open.

" 'At's right boy. Days finally come." His grandpa's gruff voice assured as he stepped in dropping his heavy tool belt on the chair by the door. The gears in his artificial leg whirred and creaked as he strode over to the white hair Professor. "Ya' sure it's okay Oz? Boys a little young, still two years shy of enroll'n." Robin's heart skipped a beat until Ozpin interjected.

"I don't think it will be a problem to make a special exception. He is a Cappson after all." The Professor turned to Robin who was doing his best not to start jumping up and down, "The opening ceremony is in a week, I expect to see you there."

"Yes sir!" Robin did his best to do a proper salute.

"Good." And with that the Professor made his way to the door and out into the snow.

The cabin was silent for a minute before the older Cappson drew his pipe from his heavy coat, pressing the button at the bowl causing the tobacco to smoke and crackle, "Well what'chu waiting for boy. Give me those guns. I won't have you heading off to Beacon with some faulty weapons with our name on it."

"Yes sir grandpa!" Robin fetched the guns. Finally his dream was starting to come true.

* * *

**And there you have it folks. One Prologue down, three more to go. Always eager for input and am open to OC's if they seem reasonable or cool. I have most of the main cast planned out but if they fit I'd be happy to use them and give you the credit. Will try to update once every few weeks. Til next time.**


	2. Prologue 2: Dynamic Fulcrum

**This chapter came together a lot faster than I thought it was only thanks to me being sick and snowed in at home that I was able to bang this one out so fast. I'm hoping to get the next chapter started over the weekend, busy trying to plot out everything and figure out what's gonna happen and when.**

**Disclaimer: Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth own RWBY...If I did it would be filled with waaaaaaay more explosions, just look at this chapter.**

* * *

Daedalus frantically buzzed round his room and workshop gathering everything he could possibly conceive as valuable for his upcoming departure for Beacon. He cursed himself for still being so unprepared at so late an hour when a loud thumping came through the wall. "Dae you freak! Go. To. Bed!"

"Alright already Francesca! I'm almost done!" He hollered back. Running a hand through his unkempt green hair, fingers brushing through singed spots and patches of burnt scalp, Daedalus couldn't help but grin as he surveyed the large assortment of gear and necessities messily arranged on his small bed. "Okay Perdix, begin checklist protocol." Daedalus spoke into the small holo-display mounted on his wrist as synthesized voice spoke through the comm-link in his ear. "_Protocol commencing…clothing?_"

"Check." Daedalus quickly inspected the deep green duffle bag filled to the breaking point with messily packed clothes.

"_Combat supplies and utilities?_"

"Check." Daedalus picked up the heavy pouch laden belt filled with numerous gadgets, devices, and accessories he'd stockpiled or invented over the last few weeks.

"_Tools?_" Perdix was cut off by a stifled gasp from Daedalus as he snatched up the large red toolbox and cradling it to his chest, covering its imaginary ears.

"Perdix bite your digital tongue. These aren't tools…they're my precious little helpers." Daedalus scolded while gently stroking his toolbox.

"_I see…amending designation._"

"That's more like it." Gently he set the toolbox back down on the bed. "And check by the way."

"_Icarus?_" picking up the small winged bear doll, Daedalus nuzzled it close to his face eliciting a small squeak from the doll. "Check."

"_Non-essentials/frivolities?_"

"Gonna have to disagree with you on that one Dix." Daedalus chimed in glancing over the vast assortment of odds and ends he scrounged together. He had gaming devices, a camera, junk food, posters, and one copy of the book _Thrill of the Hunt: A Gentleman's Guide to Pursuing and Capturing the Female Heart _by one P. Port. "Check."

"_Dynamic Fulcrum?_" Daedalus grinned setting down his bear and turning his attention to the hulking green metal weapons pack lying in the center of his bed. "Double check."

"_Reserve Dust __stores?_"

"Che…" His eyes moved over the bed, then worriedly around the perimeter of the bed, then frantically over the entirety of the room, panic slowly setting in. "No. No, no, no, no. NO!" Running to his work station he began digging through piles of parts and tools, ignoring Francesca's exceedingly violent threats coming through the walls. Finally he found the large gray box and flipped the lid. He pulled canister after empty canister out until each lay empty at his feet. "No! How could this be happening? Why now?" He cursed. "_This is bad, how could I have forgotten to stock back up on Dust? Without it I'll barely last two weeks._ _Alright no biggie…I just need to find an all-night Dust shop._" With renewed confidence in situation Daedalus fished out his trusty coin purse to assess his funds only to let out a defeated gasp at the dismal emptiness inside. "_Crap. I forgot I spent all of the money mom and dad sent me to pay for that book. Okay okay think Daedalus think, I need combat grade Dust in large quantities and for virtually nothing….well exactly nothing, but that's not the point…the only place like that is…_" Slowly as his synapses fired a grin formed on Daedalus' features, then morphed into a smirk, and then finally into a confident and triumphant sneer. "That's it! Sure it's not 100% legal, but who's gonna notice a little missing Dust. It's perfect." Quickly Daedalus grabbed his gear, slung Dynamic Fulcrum onto his back, and grabbed his reserve dust box and the cylinder before making his way to his window, throwing it open to revealing the reinforced ladder he'd attached to the house a year ago. "Now onward. To victory!" He cried thrusting his fist into the air.

"That's It! I'm coming in there and PUTTING you to sleep!" Screamed Francesca through the wall followed by the sound of stomping coming closer.

"REALLYSORRYSISGOTTARUNANERRANDBEBACKINTHEMORNINGBYE!" Daedalus rushed out the window and into the night hoping to escape his furious little sister's wrath.

_**Vale's industrial District**__**…**_

Daedalus stood just outside the Schnee Corporate Dust refinery staring up at the imposing fence surrounding the perimeter. After assessing the issue of gaining entry he settled on a plan and reached behind his back and found the appropriate slot near the base of his pack. He flexed his hand and a familiar cylinder plopped into his palm. Bringing the small charge up to eye level Daedalus grinned and kissed it before pressing the small button at the top and counting. "3…2…1" He threw it at the gate with a quick flick of the wrist. The cylinder burst upon contact with the fence engulfing the links in ice. With a chuckle Daedalus reached into his belt and fished out a small hammer before stepping forward and tapping the ice. The fence shattered in a rain of brittle ice and bits of metal links. "Well I guess I'll just let myself in."

As he approached the building Daedalus pressed a button on his wrist display. "Hey Perdix, you wanna do me a favor and take care of those cameras?" There was a brief chirp followed by the sound of a bell. "_Affirmative….task complete. Cameras subverted._" Daedalus grinned climbing a few stairs to door with a coded lock and card reader. "Thanks buddy, now let's work our magic on this little baby." Cracking his knuckles he reached into another pouch on his belt and pulled out a device with several wires running to a plastic keycard. Daedalus keyed in a few buttons on the device before swiping the card, the light above the locked glowed an angry red and beeped a shrill noise while the device seemed to whirr running through a sequence of numbers while Daedalus hummed a jaunty tune. "Okay and…got it." He swiped the card one more time and keyed in the number on the device's read out as the light switched from red to blue and gave a chime. "Yeesh, if it's gonna stay this easy I'm not really gonna feel too bad about sneaking in. They're practically giving it away like this."

After a bit of sneaking and searching Daedalus found his way into the giant Dust processing center and set to work of filling up his Dust cylinders. After hooking the last of the cylinders up to right shoot he made his way over to the control console and pressed the button to start the procedure when an alarm screeched to life painting the room in spinning red light. "Predix what the hell! I thought you took care of the alarms!"

"_Negative, you directed me to subvert all surveillance devices. You did not specify to circumvent any alarm systems._" The A.i. corrected in Daedalus ear as suddenly four imposing robots dropped from the ceiling. With disturbing synchronization facemasks dropped down over their red face and then all of them turned towards Daedalus raising their arms at him, transforming them into some rather intimidating guns.

"**Intruder! Identify yourself!**" the robot closest to him commanded in a booming metallic voice.

"Easy now fellas. This is all a terrible misunderstanding." Daedalus consoled the imposing robots while slyly starting the Dust dispensing process from the controls. "Don't you guys recognize me, it's me. Anders….Smith….Andersmith. Yeah, good ole' Andersmith. Just forgot my…" Daedalus surveyed his surroundings, his eyes falling on a nearby wrench. "Wrench! Yeah, my trusty wrench."

The bots remained still for a moment with their guns trained on the green haired young man before the closest spoke again. "**Invalid identification! Drop any weapons and send them over before approaching!**" The robot directed Daedalus with it a gesture of its non-weaponed arm.

"Okay man, easy. I'm just gonna close my box and kick it over okay. Let's not do anything…shooty." As he bent down to close the container Daedalus slipped a small crystal like dome on the lid before kicking the box between the four robots. "Dix you know what to do." He whispered under his breath trying not to drop his uneasy smile. He watched as the dome slightly raised and four thin green trails of light snot fourth from the dome, each coming to a stop on one of the robots as he cautiously started walking towards them.

"**You are now under arrest for trespassing, attempted theft of…**" The robot droned on about the charges against him when Perdix chimed in his ear. "_Targets painted. Awaiting firing command._"

"Good…NOW!" Daedalus ducked forward and a disk on the back of Fulcrum elevated and spun at high speeds firing grenades at the robots blasting them to pieces. After giving a second to let the smoke from the blast clear, Daedalus stood and snapped Fulcrum's straps in satisfaction. "Well that went off without a hitch."

As if fate was punishing him for being tempted, several more robots dropped from the ceiling at the opposite end of the room, hands shifting to terrifying blades before charging at him. "OH COME ON!" He screamed reaching back for Fulcrum to dispense more grenades quickly hurling them one by one at the approaching enemies. One was knocked back shattered to pieces in a violent explosion, another was engulfed in an intense flame before seizing up in a fit of spastic motion and collapsing to the ground, and one was stopped frozen solid in a large block of ice. Watching their allies fall the remaining machines switched their weapons to guns and opened fire on Daedalus. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" He screamed running and jumping over a cart of crystals, knocking several over with him in his leap. "Ow…what the hell are…" Examining the mess of crystals on the ground around him, a devious smirk formed on his face followed by an unsettling maniacal laugh as he set to work.

The robots paused their fire for a moment, slowly approaching their target when a mysterious object was lobbed between the small groups. Upon examinations they found a small bundle of fire Dust crystals duct taped around a blinking red charge in the center before it burst in a gigantic burning explosion. Standing up from behind the cart with another bundle of crystals held high over his head Daedalus screamed looking around for more robots. "You want some more huh? HUH!?" Once he was certain there were no more robots to fight he lowered his makeshift bomb with a confident smirk. "That's right! That all you got? Wanna go another round, I'm taking all comers boys." Again the words had not left his mouth before a hulking spider like droid dropped from the ceiling brandishing its four monstrous cannons.

"_Advisory: Perhaps it would be in our best interest if you refrained taunting them._" Perdix chimed in through the ear piece as the robot began firing causing Daedalus to make a sloppy and haphazard retreat in the ensuing carnage, dropping his crystal bomb in the process and watching it rattle and skid across the floor and under some heavy machinery. "You don't say Dix!? I hadn't given it much thought!" The boy screamed diving behind a huge stack of crates and shipping containers. The droid ceased its assault looking out over the room attempting to reacquire its lost target. "_Okay Daedalus think, our regular gear ain't gonna do more than scratch its paint for a second before it blasts you into small green chunks on the wall. Might be able to take it out with a few charges, but no way I'll have enough time to get off more than one shot on that thing…unless._" Daedalus quickly surveyed the room from his cover as another devious idea began to form. "Perdix, I want you to arm the cannon and fire at coordinates AB 625 and AN 973 on my mark." He commanded shifting his position just enough to spy his marks. "_Affirmative…cannon armed and ready._" A long barrel on the back right side of Fulcrum swiveled around coming to a rest just above Daedalus' shoulder before raising again towards the ceiling.

"Alright…and…FIRE!" The small cannon blasted once, then twice, firing two white disks through the air that connected to the nearby catwalk overhead. At the sound of the shout the Droid scuttled over examining the area when Daedalus stepped out from behind his cover with his hands over head and a strange device in his hand. "Don't shoot! That was my last shot. I am out of ammo and am now surrendering myself." He spoke slowly as he approached the bot.

"**Drop your weapon and get on your knees!**" The droid commanded bring its two main guns into position to fire on Daedalus.

"What? Oh! You mean this thing?" Daedalus pointed with his free hand at the device which up close looked like a repurposed RC vehicle remote. "This isn't a weapon. It's a remote detonator. See?" He pulled the small lever on the side of the device and watched with joy as the opposing ends of the catwalk exploded and the heavy walkway crashed down on the massive droid, pinning it and its weapons to the ground. Stepping forward with a gloating smirk Daedalus peered at the robots glowing red visor. "Now this…" He gestured with his thumb to the cannon aimed at the robot, "This is a weapon." He fired two more charges at the bot pinning it to its head and torso. "Buh-bye." Walking back towards the command console Daedalus flipped the robot the finger before pulling the lever once more blowing the robot to pieces. Quickly setting about his work of gathering his Dust he pressed the receiver in his ear. "Okay Dix can you scan the police ban and see if the fuzz is on its way?"

"_Very well…affirmative, several officers are indeed responding. E.T.A. 15 minutes and counting._" As the A.i. explained the situation Daedalus began scribbling something on a scrap piece of paper.

"Alright that's plenty of time. Let's jet." Quickly Daedalus grabbed his Dust container and slapped the paper onto the control board with some tape before running for the nearest door.

_**Roughly 45 minutes later**__**…**_

The police had cordoned off the most of the destroyed sections of the plant and reviewed the security footage which at its best could be described as a grainy mess of motion and explosions. Now the investigators were trying to gather any evidence that was not blown up robot parts or scorched metal. "Hey, uh, what d'you think of this?" An officers with a dark beard and shades asked another standing next to him, this one with messy brownish hair and suspenders.

"I dunno, seems like some kinda joke to me." He said staring at the messily scribble note. The message was simple. One Sentence with a crudely drawn picture off to the side of what looked like a smiling scorched monkey.

**I.O.U. Some Dust and Robots.**

**Signed **

**D. V. and his pal Dix.**

* * *

**Two down with two more to go. Daedalus and Perdix were very fun to write for, kinda like a crazier or more dysfunctional version of Agent York and Delta from RVB. Really happy for all the views, hoping to get some reviews with this chapter. **

**Til next time everybody. **


	3. Prologue 3: Crazy Apples

**I had hoped to get this chapter up much sooner than this but between work and classes I had very little time to sit down and type it out. **

**Disclaimer: Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth own RWBY...If I did there would be far more crazy indoor fight scenes.**

* * *

Eris sat handcuffed to a table in a dark room, a dim cone of yellow light surrounding her. She was not opposed to the idea of being cuffed, but rather would have preferred to have her it be her own personal pair instead of the tightly chaffing police issue cuffs that currently confined her. In exasperation she blew a stray lock of her unruly purple mohawk out of her eyes. She'd been lazily amusing herself for the better part of the last half hour they'd had her in confinement scratching designs and profanity into table she was cuffed to. Finally after what had felt like an eternity she heard the door open and in stepped an balding and overweight man with an incredibly sour expression on his face, "Good evening officer, what can I do for ya?" She mocked with a wide innocent smile, leaning forward with feigned attention

"Can it kid. You have any idea how much trouble you're in?" The older man almost barked in his gruff voice. He took a seat across from her and threw down a heavy paper filled folder.

"I dunno? At a guess," Eris lifted her hands drawing attention to her cuffs. "I'd say more than a little."

"Yeah, now maybe you can shed some light on a couple of things for us."

"What's left to tell? It was self-defense, I was a victim in all of this!" Eris moaned.

"Yeah, thing is, last time I checked self-defense didn't rack up over 15 casualties, ruin three under-cover investigations and create over seven thousand Lien in property damage!" The Officer slammed his meaty fist on the table for emphasis, though it had little to no effect on Eris.

"Hey, hey. In my defense…they started it." Eris' aloof demeanor remained unchanged.

"Okay then, maybe you can explain just what happened then?"

"Whatever." The purple haired teen groaned.

_**Earlier that night**__**…**_

"Read'um and weep boys." Eris exclaimed happily throwing down her cards for all to see. "I'll just be taking these." She grinned pulling the large stack of multicolored chips towards her, her gold plated cuffs jingling and jangling against the plastic chips. She loved the Velvet room. On the outside it was a crappy hole in the wall bar along the riverfront of Vale's commercial district, but go down the stairs in the backroom, do a secret knock and you found yourself in one of the nicest under the table afterhours gambling houses you could have the pleasure of frequenting. Right now she was one of three players left in a rather high stakes card game, which she was currently dominating with extreme prejudice. "Alright, let's keep this train roll'n!"

"I'm out." The man on her left said throwing his cards on the table and pulling a cigar from his coat.

"Aw, c'mom Roman, you can't back out now." She regarded the older, sharply dressed man. "Things are just heating up."

"Kid, you learn in my line of work when the best time to cut and run is." He lit the cigar as one of his lackeys gathered his remaining chips from the table. "And this is one of those times. See ya round." He cast an uninterested wave over his shoulder as he turned and sauntered towards the exit.

"Well, guess that just leaves you and me, huh Ivan?" Eris turned her attention to the much older gentleman sitting opposite her at the table. The man in question was Crazy Ivan, small time criminal and proprietor of the Velvet room. He wore a crisp white suit and several large silver rings with large sparkling diamonds in them. At his side were two stoic guards watching both the game and Eris intently.

"So it would seem my sweet." He agreed peering at her from behind his drink, "Though, I believe these odds are now in my favor."

"Oh, how d'you figure that?" Eris asked as the dealer began shuffling and dealing the next hand.

"Simple, my dear." He continued, throwing out a few more chips, "I have been playing this game for far longer than you. I have spent much time learning all the rules."

"That so?" Eris raised, interested where their little banter was taking them.

"Yes, and there is one rule I have taken to heart." Ivan called Eris' bet as one of his attendants refreshed his drink.

"Okay I'll bite. What rule is that?" Eris was intrigued. Ivan only smiled at her behind his silvery white mustache.

"Ah ah ah, patience. I will tell in due time, but let us continue." The game went on for a couple more minutes as the stakes grew larger and larger until finally it reached its peak, "Alright my dear, let us see who is to be the winner. I have four of a kind." Ivan gloated revealing his hand.

"That is a real shame Ivan." Eris sighed, her head resting in her hand while the older man grinned. "Cause all I got is a Royal flush." Eris laid down her cards and began reaching for the chips. "Guess you'll have to teach me about the rules some other time."

"Ah, but you forget about the most important rule of the game Miss Eristone." Ivan interrupted as two large men in suits flanked Eris on each side, each putting a hand on her shoulder and pulling her back into her seat. "The house always wins. And since this is my club that would make me how do you say, the house, yes?" Ivan's smirk was wide and confident. "Now I abide certain…riffraff like Torchwick in my establishment from time to time, but you come here to my club, you drink, you fight, and you upset my patrons, but worst of all you come to my table and try to take money from me. This I can not abide my dear so now I feel you have overstayed your welcome."

"Aw c'mon Ivan, I thought we were all friends here." Eris tried to plead as the grips on her shoulders tightened.

"Ah but you see my dear, all my friends know I am a rather…what is the word? Sore loser?"

"C'mon Ivan. You really don't want to do this." Eris' tone was shifting to a more serious one despite the firm hands clenching around her shoulders. "Just give me my money and we can all walk out of here happy."

"Or I could just take my money and you can be walked out of here by my guards." He retorted with a self-satisfied smirk. "Have a goodnight Miss Eristone."

"Alright, don't say I didn't warn ya." Eris chided before her hands shout up lightning fast to the two men's ties. With a violent jerk she brought both of their heads crashing together before throwing the disoriented guards into the table sending cards and chips flying into the air. Before Ivan or his men could react she drew one of her Crazy Apples from its shoulder holster and fired at them catching the guards in the chest and Ivan in the shoulder sending him tumbling back in his seat with strangled cry. The club erupted in a chaos of screams and motion as the guests began hurrying for the door. Eris took the chance to unsheathe her other weapon and the hurl the knives towards a nearby roulette table, the blades sinking into the felt covered wood with a shunk. With a powerful tug on the long chains that connected them to her cuff the table toppled forward and the knives came free before she took a diving leap behind it to avoid a hail of gunfire from a new wave a guards that came bursting into the room. Eris ducked low to avoid the barrage of fire as it tore through her cover. Once the volley ended Eris called out still huddle behind the splintered remains of the table. "Okay Ivan, I think we can both admit we overreacted a little. How bout we sit down and settle this over a drink huh?" Eris gingerly lifted a bottle she'd found amidst the debris just above her cover.

A single shot shattered the bottle as Ivan shouted in a labored voice. "I want that bitch dead!"

The firing resumed as Eris' temper flared. "You son of a bitch that was some good stuff!" She looked at the shattered remnants of the bottles neck in her hand noticing a small amount of liquor remaining. With a shrug she downed what was left just as a pair of guards attempted to flank her from behind. Throwing her weapons once more she let the chains wrap around their necks before hurling them over the table into the melee. With a cry she shot up firing wildly into the mass disoriented guards before leaping over her cover throwing the blades of her knives into stool close at hand. With little effort she began swinging the discarded seat as an impromptu flail. Guards ducked and jumped out of the way to avoid the unexpected weapon until it connected with a small cluster of guards and burst into pieces of splintering wood. Once the debris was free of her blades Eris began twirling her weapons by their chains creating deadly gold and black colored orbit slashing at any adversary that dared try to approach her.

"Get her already you good for nothings!" Ivan screamed far from the chaos of the actual fight. "What do I pay you for?! She's just one girl!"

This only spurred Eris on as she pulled in her weapons and charged into a clump of remaining guards, stabbing, slashing, and shooting anything that so much as twitched in her direction. Eris couldn't stifle a high pitched and raucous wail of a laugh as enemy after enemy went down before her. Once the last of the guards collapsed at her feet she took a minute to scan the room. "Okay Ivan it's time we settled thi…" Eris was cut off as another hail of automatic fire blazed past her head which she only narrowly dodged. Whipping her head in the direction of the shots she found Ivan glowering at her, a pair of what looked to be white bladed tonfas pointed at her, gun smoke billowing from the barrels at the ends. "Little girl I am not one for the dirtying of hands with petty business such as this. I have…"Ivan's rant was interrupted by a groan of a nearby guard. "I had people for that. But this, this I will enjoy."

And with that Ivan lunged at Eris swinging one the blades down at her. Eris blocked the swing only to leap back as Ivan fired at her with the other. Eris fired back watching as Ivan spun his tonfas at incredible speeds deflecting each shot with ease. Switching the grip on one of her knives Eris charged forward. The two met with a collision of blades. The sound of metal scraping and slashing against metal echoed through the room as each blow was blocked, parried, or countered. After several more moments they broke the brutal stalemate and jumped apart. Ivan preparing to let loose another volley of fire when Eris wrapped her chains around his wrists. With a powerful tug she pulled him towards as she jumped to meet him, her knee colliding with his face in the air. Ivan collapsed, a choked gasp escaping his throat as blood gushed from his nose. Eris grabbed him by the collar of his suit and hoisted him up to his knees before hurling him with all of her might over her shoulder and into a nearby table. Ivan crashed through the tabled and onto the floor with a resounding thud. Eris casually made her way over to the man, planting her heavy boot down hard on his chest causing Ivan to cry out in pain. "Now Ivan, this all could have been avoided if you could have just played nice and been a good sport." Eris ground the heel of her boot hard into the older man's chest. "But no, you just had to spoil everybody's good time by being a sore loser. I guess this is a bit of my fault too." Eris continued casting a glance over the carnage that was once her favorite club, some of the guards trying to stagger to their feet and hobble away. "I should have told you about my own little rule. I. Never. Lose." She punctuated each word with another purposeful grind of her heel.

"Freeze! Hands in the air!" came a deafening shout as the door to the club was burst open and police flooded the room surrounding them. What few guards were standing or even minimally conscious raised their hands in surrender while Eris merely slumped her shoulders and gave a disappointed huff.

_**The present**__**….**_

"I see. So I guess we'll just have to tack on illegal gambling and underage drinking to the charges then too." The officer said scribbling down the last of the notes he'd been taking as once Eris was finished.

"Whatever, I'm sure my dad's already paid my bail so how bout you just undo these cuffs and give me a slap on the wrists so I can get out of here. Oh and also give me back my babies." Eris retorted missing the familiar weight of her trusty weapons after so long.

"Oh I wouldn't count on that kid. Yer old man said he wasn't paying to make this little fiasco go away. I think it was something along the lines of how you're proving to be too great of a disappointment and he won't let you drag the family name through the muck anymore." The old man smirked as Eris failed to contain the mixture of confusion and anger playing across her face. "Way I see it you're in for a whole world of trouble no…" He was interrupted as ruckus seemed to be taking place just outside the room. The door swung open and in stepped a tall blonde woman in sharp glasses a white blouse, dark business skirt with matching stockings, and a short purple cape followed by a young confounded looking officer. "What the hell is going on here?!" The older officer almost bellowed at this unwanted interruption.

"I'm sorry inspector, she just barged in. Says she's a huntress." The younger man apologized obviously at a loss as to what to do.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch and I have business concerning Miss Catherine Eristone here." The woman said lightly tapping her riding crop against the palm of her hand.

"Well get in line sister. I don't care what you say she's currently…"

"In my care for the time being." Glynda cut the man off with a pointed stare. "Now I would ask that you leave us so that we may discuss this matter in private." The investigator gritted his teeth as the imposing huntress continued to stare him down before finally storming out of the room in a huff almost dragging the younger officer with him. Once they were gone Glynda slowly made her way towards Eris. "Now Miss Eristone I represent Beacon Academy and we believe you would make a fine candidate for hunter training."

"Oh really now?" Eris did her best to mask her confusion as the situation continued to take unexpected turn after unexpected turn. "The last private academy I went to said I was a hopeless problem child."

"Be that as it may, I have discovered no student is unreachable given a healthy environment, plenty of structure, and of course…" She slapped her riding crop down hard across the table close to Eris's hands. "Strict discipline." She said sternly looking into Eris' deep violet eyes.

"Oooh, sounds like my kind detention." Eris purred winking at the far less pleased huntress.

"The choice is yours. If you agree your bail will be paid and you will be enrolled in the upcoming classes starting shortly this week."

Eris contemplated this for a moment weighing her options. "Will you get my Crazy Apples back?"

"Of course. We could hardly expect you to perform at your best without your weapons."

"Will I get to fight?"

"Yes, but only under strict supervision of the staff and during the preapproved combat classes."

After a few more moments of thought Eris shrugged. "Eh, what the hell. Beats the alternative."

"Very good Miss Eristone. I will begin the process for your release." Glynda reached into her pocket and pulled out a scroll quickly opening it and typing away furiously.

"Oh and one more thing." Eris chimed in. "Quit it with the Catherine and Miss Eristone crap, the name's Eris."

Glynda shot her a sidelong look, displeased with her tone. "I will bear that in mind."

* * *

**And yet another of the prologue comes to a close. This chapter was one of the harder ones to get typed out seeing as when I came up with the idea all I really had was "Eris plays a game of cards then burst into over the top Chinese action movie fight sequence". I'me glad it turned out as well as it did. **

**If any readers found Eris' weapons(Crazy Apples) confusing I couldn't find an easy way to shove in her weapon's design into the narration. She uses a pair of knives mounted on the tops of her snub nosed pistols (similar to Blake's Gambol Shroud) attached to her cuffs by long chains.**

**Well only one more prologue to go before the story officially starts.**

**Until then Faithful readers.**


	4. Prologue 4: Glorious Qilin

**Finally finished the last of the prologues. Sorry it isn't as long as the others, but I hope you all still enjoy it.**

**Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth...If I owned it I'd have more kung-fu movie battles in ancient temples.**

* * *

Peizhi stood in the great empty hall of the temple. Her eyes were unaffected by the darkness as she carefully scanned the room for any sign of movement, glancing between the mighty pillars and up into high ceiling. Then she heard it, the faint creak of wood and the soft padding of footsteps closing in all around her, the attack was about to commence. Without warning a group of black clothed figures charged from her right brandishing swords and spears. Peizhi tighten her grip on Qilin and dropped to a defensive stance. As the first attacker came in range bringing his sword down with a powerful swing, Peizhi swung her own blade upwards blocking the blow before stepping in and sending a powerful open palm strike into the attacker's chest sending him flying back past his comrades. The remaining two charged in together, one with a spear and the other with twin swords. The spear wielder stabbed and thrust at Peizhi in an unrelenting fury while the other ducked in close slashing wildly, it was all Peizhi could do just to dodge the flurry of attacks, she had to change her tactics. Waiting for the right moment she ducked another thrust of the spear, then shot her arm up and cinched it tightly around the weapon's shaft stopping its wielder from pulling it back. As the other attacker came into strike she blocked his blow with her sword and swung her leg up and into his chest knocking him off his feet. Turning her attention back to the spear holder she brought Qilin down and splintered the shaft with her blade before lunging forward with cat-like quickness and striking him in the face.

Peizhi had little time to celebrate her victory before the next wave commenced and more assailants converged on her from the left and down from the ceiling's rafters. She growled as she decided to go on the offensive. She pulled the trigger on her sword's broad hilt as she swung at the attackers descending from the ceiling causing a long shaft to burst forth from between the guard and the hilt turning the broad sword into an impressive halberd. The blade struck each foe in one powerful arc. Some managed to recover from the blow and land safely while most crashed to the floor with a loud thud. Spinning on her heel she brought the blade around towards the attackers on the left. The blow struck nothing but air as the black clad attackers sidestepped or jumped back to avoid the blow, but this bought Peizhi the time she needed. Cocking the pump on her hilt the shaft swiftly retracted transforming her blade back into a sword before she leapt into the fray. She brought her blade up in a powerful swing as she reached her first foe knocking his own sword from his hands and sending him to the floor. She followed the blow with a spinning leap into the air towards the next attacker bringing a strong kick down across his shoulder driving the man to his knees. Peizhi quickly flipped back to dodge a pair of spears. Taking aim at one of the attackers and pulling the trigger once more sending the blade rocketing into the spear wielder's chest, the sound of armor shattering beneath cloth ringing through the temple hall as he soared back from the impact. Quickly cocking her weapon once more she charged the other attacker dodging his thrusts until she was close enough to drive an elbow strike into his sternum. Another two attackers with swords charged her. She dodged and countered their blows and slashes until one came in close enough. She ducked low and swept his legs out from under him and sent a rising blow hard into the other's midsection.

It was then she picked up the sound of gun being drawn and cocked from behind her. She turned in time to see a row of assailants as they opened fire on her. She whirled, spun, and ducked through the hail of automatic fire. Once she was close enough she extended Qilin once more, still spinning, bring the blade around in one swing cleaving it through the barrels of the guns before spinning around once more using the shaft to take the legs out from under the gunmen sending them crashing to the ground like black dressed bowling pins.

Another wave of attackers came rushing into the hall with swords and guns at the ready when a thud resounded from beneath the looming and angry figure of the marred god statue at the fair end of the hall. "That's enough!" Came the rasping voice of the Master sitting at the base of the imposing statue at the far wall of the temple. "I've seen more than enough!" He called out pushing up his sharp pointed sunglasses up the bridge of his nose and using his walking stick to rise from the floor. Suddenly the hall was filled with light as the torches throughout the hall burst into life. Most of he black clad figures rose, all be it slowly, most removing their masks to reveal the familiar faces of the Monks and caretakers of the temple. The older man made his way to the beaming Peizhi at a quick pace despite his long advanced years. "You did well today." He said casting eyes over the many monks still being helped from the ground and out of the hall, a few of the less injured among them already hurrying off to attend to their regular duties.

"Does this mean I passed Master? Will you finally let me go to Beacon?" Peizhi pleaded, her deep amber eyes wide and filled with hope.

"Come on Peizhi, take a walk with me." The old Master said gesturing towards the courtyard. He led them through the maze like interior of the temple passing various monks and workers as they went t, each one bowing to the Master and trading warm greetings with Peizhi. After a few moments they reached courtyard, a few monks scattered about tending to the flowers or combing through the rocks of the meditation garden. "You really put on quite the show today. It feels like it was only just yesterday you were waddling across that floor learning how to walk." The old man chuckled gazing out over the garden.

"Master I keep telling you, I'm not a kid anymore." Peizhi chided up at her teacher making him grin wide as pulled a cigar out from his robes.

"Ah, the folly of youth." He mused lighting his cigar, taking a moment to savor the smoke as it billowed up towards the sky. "Spending so much time trying to prove you're so much older than you really are." Peizhi merely huffed crossing here arms in a childish pout, "You know I wasn't always the Master of this temple, when I was young I was an angry and restless soul. I spent much of my life fighting and doing things I'm not very proud of. That is until the day I finally stumble my way into this temple." He gestured to Peizhi to follow him as he began walking the garden path. "The outside world is a very different place. It is full of malice and danger, I can still remember the days of the Faunus Wars, so much senseless violence between man and Faunnus alike." He turned to the girl, a pleading expression behind his dark lensed glasses. "This is why I hope you'll reconsider traveling to Beacon. The world is not a kind place, especially towards Faunus like you. I just want you to be safe."

"I know that Master." Peizhi said averting her eyes from his gaze. "But you taught me better than to just hide away in a safe little castle. I want to go out and see the world and help protect people, human and Faunus alike. The world needs Huntsmen and huntresses like me to keep it safe and that's all I've ever really wanted to do." She said meeting his eyes with conviction. "Plus I should be just fine, I did have a pretty awesome master to teach me how to fight." Peizhi giggled while her Master's featured softened into a smile.

"Well said kid." The old man said pulling the young Faunus into a hug. "I guess the world really isn't all that bad. It has you in it after all." They stayed embraced for a few moments longer before parting.

"So Master, does this mean I can really go to Beacon?"

"Yes but only on two conditions." The Master said sternly once more puffing on his cigar.

"What are they, please, please please just tell me already." Peizhi begged, her cat like ears twitching with her anticipation.

"First I want you to promise to stay safe out there now that we can't all watch over you." The Master lectured, a few of the monks making audible sounds of agreement.

"Fine. And second?"

"Second is you need to write us a letter every week to tell us how you're doing so we don't have to worry." The old man grinned at her.

"Yeah! That's right." Came a muffled cry from back towards the temple quickly followed by a chorus of hissing 'shhhh's' and different voice saying, "Quiet. They'll hear us." Until a large collection of Monks seemed to tumble out from behind the wall connecting the courtyard and the main hallway.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Cried the Master as he survey the disheveled pile of monks slowly picking themselves off of the floor.

"Ah come on Master, we just wanted to wish Peizhi good luck on her journey." One of the monks said starting the tidal wave of well-wishing and advice.

"Listen to the Master and try to stay safe out there." Cautioned one of the older monks." She can take care of herself just fine Roshi, I've got the bruises to prove it." Laughed another monk his arm wrapped up in a sling. "Be sure to bring along a jacket, Vale tends to get cold early in the year." Chided another bespectacled monk. "You better not forget to write, we'll wanna hear all about how you're doing in school." A monkey Faunus said pointing for emphasis with his half eaten banana.

"Enough already you bunch of chuckle heads. She isn't leaving right this minute so save your goodbyes til she leaves!" Yelled the Master. "Now get back to work I'll give you some real bruises!" The monks scrambled off back into the temple making Peizhi giggle. "They're right you know. It's gonna be real lonely without you running around here."

"I know, but it's not like I'll never be coming back and I'll be sure to write." Peizhi reassured her old master.

"I know, you know one of the happiest days of my life was the day we found you crying your little lungs out on the main steps. Time really does fly. Try not to get into any trouble out there okay." The Master said lightly ruffling the hair between her feline ears.

"I'll try." She said smiling up at him. "Well I better hurry up and get packing. The trip to Vale is gonna be a pretty long one." She jogged off towards the temple when she heard the Master call back to her.

"And I better not hear anything about you fooling around with any boys!"

"I never took a vow of celibacy." She called back snidely. "Maybe I'll give it some thought if you stop smoking those smelly old things." She called holding her nose and pointing at the Master's cigar.

"I told you, these are a form of smoke offering." He laughed.

"What's that? I can't hear you over all the boys lined up to ask me out on a date!" And with that she broke into a playful run down the temple halls, happy that soon she'd be boldly adventuring out into the world.

* * *

**And there you have the last of the main cast. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and wished that between work and school I had more time to work on it, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Thank you to those who have sent in character submissions and thank you to every one who has taken the time to read this far in.**

**Next chapter: First day at Beacon.**

**Til next time.**


	5. Chapter 1: Arriving at Beacon

**I was surprised by how lucky I was to have the time to get this chapter done as quickly. I usually only have one or two free days to type on one of the chapters and get it ready, but things fell so well into place I was able to have the better part of a week to work on it and get it done in spite of it being almost 3 times larger than any of the other chapters.**

**I'd like to thank those of you who have reviewed and sent in character submissions. I will still be accepting them for a little while longer so if you have one go to my profile for details.**

**Disclaimer: RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth productions...if I own it I would have a lot more people running into each other on the first day.**

* * *

The Sun shone brightly over the streets of Vale as a warm breeze blew. Crowds of people bustled through the busy airship dock trying to be mindful of the large crowd of young students gathered for the ship heading to Beacon. Robin stood face pressed against the wall length window looking out over the city, he could not contain his wonder at its sheer size. He'd never been somewhere so big before and with so many people, the proud city made his village back home look positively miniscule in scale. After a few more moments Robin managed to pull himself away from the glass and compose himself. He took a minute to admire his faint reflection shown in the glass surface. His grandpa had taken him shopping the day before when they arrived in Vale for new and more suitable combat clothes. He now wore a black untucked button up shirt the store clerk assured them could withstand a strike from the strongest of Ursa, a pair gray jeans said to withstand most ordinary fires, and a new pair of combat gloves designed to help him better grip his guns. Combined with his signature heavy iron boots, twin tailed red cap atop his head of messy brown hair, and Hob and Goblin holstered at his side Robin felt he looked like he could take on the whole world. '_Man these new clothes sure do look sharp if I do say so myself.' _Robin quickly snapped out of his self-appreciation and put on a serious expression '_Alright, enough of this admiring my own reflection business. The ship's gonna be here any minute now Time to get ready, things are only gonna get harder from here on out._'

The ships arrived after a short while and the students boarded in droves, Robin was lucky enough to get a spot by one of the windows and was once more swallowed up in almost child-like wonder. He'd only ever read about airships back in the village and now not only did he get to see one up close, but got to fly in one and stare at the shrinking form of the Vale cityscape as the ship rose above the clouds. However he wasn't so enthralled by the small retreating shapes of the buildings below that the strange sight didn't catch his eye. At first he thought it was a trick of the eye, possibly a symptom of some flight sickness he hadn't read about, but after shaking his head and focusing out the window he was sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. Outside the ship he saw what looked like another one of the students he'd seen briefly at the docks before boarding, recognizing his strange outfit from before. The boy was wearing a leather shirt and pants covered in numerous straps and buckles and a striking orange helmet painted and shaped like a pumpkin. Though it wasn't his manner of dress that shocked Robin, no, it was the fact that the boy seemed to be standing on what looked to be some kind of rocket propelled broomstick soaring through the clouds and keeping pace with the small pack of ships, his arms crossed over his chest and the brown cloak flapping in the undoubtedly strong winds outside. Robin decided to turn away from the rather unsettling sight and perhaps look around the cabin and see if the rest of his fellow students were as interesting as the flying pumpkin headed boy outside.

The rest of the students were all impressive in their own ways filling the ship with a rather intimidating aura that Robin felt ashamed for not noticing earlier. Many of them wore some form of armor or another and Robin had to stop himself from walking up to take a look at some of the more impressive weapons he saw. One of the students that stood out was a tall blond girl chatting with a small crowd of girls who all seemed to be listening with rapt attention. She wore her hair in a high intricate braid and was dressed in what he could recognize even at a distance as intricately handcrafted green armor. What really grabbed his attention though was the massive lance she was easily shouldering while she chatted away. Turning his gaze away from the girl he found another interesting pair posted up against the far wall of the cabin. Robin was having a hard time imagining one of them as being only a teenager seeing as he had to be pushing the bounds of the six feet tall. He had messy stone gray hair and untrimmed stubble outlining his square jaw. He was dressed in a simple gray t-shirt that the sleeves had obviously been torn off of, a pair of torn and battered brown pants, and a shoulder pad made of what looked like faded and dented bronze. On his forearms he wore a pair of gauntlet that even Robin was having trouble deciphering the working of at this distance. The towering boy seemed to be talking adamantly to his companion who wore an expression that could best be described as a mixture of uninterested and steadily growing annoyance. He was at least a full foot and a half shorter than his massive friend. He had long sea-foam colored hair and the kind of face that reminded Robin of when he'd read about people with 'regal features'. He wore suit of gold colored armor with a rather impressive looking great sword strapped to the back. The more he looked around the cabin the more Robin couldn't help feeling a little out of place in this crowd. His doubts were pushed aside when a holographic display interrupted the newscast that was playing on the view screen a few feet away. "Hello and welcome to Beacon." The blond hair woman in the hologram began. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch, you are among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace and as future huntsmen and huntresses it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage need for such a task and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training needed to protect our world." The hologram phased out of existence and the students went back to what they were doing. "_That's right._" Robin thought to himself standing up a little bit taller. "_I have as much right to be here as anyone else._" He looked back out the window at the picturesque cliff of Beacon now coming into view.

It wasn't long before the ships docked at Beacon and students bustled off. Once off the boarding platform Robin was halted in his tracks by the sight of the academy's main building. That is until he was knocked out of his reverie and too the ground by an unseen collision, "Hey watch where you're…what the hell? Since when do they let kids into Beacon?" Came a loud snide voice behind him. Robin sat up and turned back towards the direction of the voice. Behind him stood two older students. One, the one he assumed had run into him, had spikey red hair and wore a grey dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a black vest with matching tie, and blue jeans while the other who was much bulkier wore a white wife-beater with green suspenders connected to his dark black slacks. Both of them were sneering down at him like hunters who'd just caught a fox in a trap. "I think you might have gotten on the wrong ship there kid. This here is Beacon, and you gotta be about this tall to get in." He said placing an imaginary height bar close to his head. "Heheh, yeah, that's right." Chuckled the bigger of the two in a deep, deep voice.

"Hey now, I'm a student too." Countered Robin. This only received more laughter from the taller boys.

"Are you kidding me, do you even know what kinda place this is?" The skinnier of the too continued leaning down closer to eye level with Robin. "This academy only accepts the best of the best."

"Really? Cause from where I'm sitting it seems like they let just about anyone in." Robin regretted the words almost immediately after they left his mouth as the red haired bully's face morphed into one of anger. The taller one merely shook his head. "You shouldn't have said that." He warned all too late.

"Listen here kid." The red head said grabbing Robin by the front of his shirt. "Do you have any idea who you're talking too? We're Colt and Wesson Browning, Vale Junior Huntsmen tournament runners up two years running. And you? You're just some kid stupid enough to try picking a fight with us." He turned to his brother, "I did hear him right didn't I Colt?"

"Seems like it Wes." Colt said crossing his arms looking like he didn't really care.

"I thought so." Wesson said turning his attention back towards robin. "I think maybe we should teach this punk a little lesson about respecting his elders."

"Hey!" Came a yell not far to their left. "Leave him alone." The group turned their attention to the direction of the voice. Standing there with her hands on her hips was a girl dressed in a red oriental style shirt with gold trim and black martial arts pants glaring at the two boys causing the commotion.

"And what do we have here. Another scrub looking to get in line for the first beating of the new school year?" Wesson drawled releasing Robin's shirt with a shove. He stood up and sauntered over to the girl. "Actually you're kinda cute…" He paused for a second eyeing her up with a sleazy stare. "All things considered that is. Maybe if you ask real nice we'll go easy on ya."

"Or maybe I'll just show you what I can do that got me accepted into Beacon." The girl growled glaring up at him. They continued staring down one another for a few more moments before Wesson gave an angry huff, shoving his fists into his pockets. "Whatever. You two ain't worth the time it would take." He said stomping off towards his brother. As they began to head towards the school he glanced back towards Robin and sneered. "Be seeing ya kid." And with that they left.

Robin sat there for a second fixing his now wrinkled shirt when a small hand was extended to him. "Need a hand?" The girl asked. "Oh, um yeah. Thanks for that." Robin said accepting the hand already feeling embarrassed. As she helped him to his feet he got a chance to get a better look at her and notice that nestled just above her dark black hair was a pair of matching feline ear. "Holy cow! You're a Faunus!" He couldn't help but exclaim.

"Huh? Oh, um yeah." The girl said scratching the back of her head nervously, taken aback by the sudden outburst.

"Wow, I've never met an actual Faunus before." Robin went on staring up at her cat ears.

"Well glad to meet you. I'm Peizhi." The girl introduced smiling, now a little more at ease.

"I'm Robin. Thanks again for the help back there."

"Oh it was nothing. My master always said that we should strive to defend the weak whenever we get the chance." Peizhi beamed striking a convicted pose oblivious to Robin wincing at the last part. "Though I never thought I'd actually see a nerd getting bullied like in the movies." She went on unaware of Robin's now greatly wounded pride. "Well I'm gonna head out now, maybe I'll see you around." She said smiling happily.

"Yeah." Robin said trying to put on a smile for her. "Maybe." Peizhi started jogging off towards the main building. "Stay outta trouble now." She called back with a wave.

"Yeah…sure." Robin sighed. "_Great, not even here for five minutes and already I'm making a fool of myself._" Robin scanned the area to see if anyone else had seen the embarrassing display. There were a few student scattered around the front of the campus most seemed uninterested or just unaware of the little scene that had just played out. Robin then noticed way off to the side over by the shuttle docks there was a lone student hunched over fiddling with something. His curiosity piqued Robin made his way over to the boy. As he got closer he could hear the boy muttering to himself, as if having an argument with some imaginary figure, despite the strangeness of the situation Robin decided to make himself known with a greeting. "Um hey. How's it…" The boy let out a startled scream eliciting a cry from Robin as a small orange-ish cylinder slipped from his finger into the air. The boy tried futilely to grab the strange device out of the air before it landed with a 'tink' and rolled over to the base of a nearby tree. The boy made a startled attempt to shield his face and body. Nothing happened and after a few second the boy collected himself, "Phew, I knew that one was a dud." He sighed. Almost instantly the small device exploded and the tree was engulfed in flame.

"What the heck?" Robin exclaimed now completely lost amidst the confusion and utter shock of the whole situation.

"Crap, crap, crap!" The boy reached down towards the strange metal pack on the ground which dispensed another cylinder, this one light-ish blue. He pressed a small button on the top and hurled it at the burning tree watching as it exploded and covered the tree and flames in ice. The boy sighed and let out an uneasy laugh. "Yeesh that was a close one. But you know what they say, the best way to solve a grenade problem is with another grenade." The boy paused for a moment then an angry expression played across his face. "I don't care what you say Dix that's totally an expression. People say it all the time, I just need to update your hard drive." Before Robin could sneak away from the growing craziness the boy turned to him with a nervous smile. "Oh yeah, hey there buddy. Sorry about the whole…" He gesture to the still frozen tree. "'This' situation, but kinda your fault too, let's split the blame and call it 60-40." He went on extending a hand.

"Uh yeah, whatever you say." Robin said shaking the hand cautiously. He noticed the metallic pack now resting on the ground and his eyes went wide. "Whoa, what's that?"

"Oh that, that's my baby, Dynamic Fulcrum." The boy said crouching down and proudly patting the massive green metal pack.

"I ain't ever seen anything like it." Robin said kneeling closer to get a better look.

"Yeah, my gramps was part of the signal corp. back during the Faunus war. When he came home my dad got a hold of it and outfitted it with that cannon so he could use it as a huntsmen, but when that didn't pan out for him like he'd hoped he passed it down to me and I re-outfitted it into best mobile grenade armory/mortar launcher/radio pack this side of Mistral." The boy proudly boasted to the young weapons fanatic. "I'm Daedalus by the way."

"I'm Robin, man you really know your stuff. You make those grenades yourself too?" Robin queried now taking a chance to examine his new found friend. The boy had tousled crayon green hair that had been singed in several places as well as burned away with small patches scared skin in its place. He wore a rumpled and grease stained lab coat with yellow flame designs stitched around the edges and cuffs over an equally grease stained green sleeveless shirt with dark liver red pants and green open toed sandals. On his wrist he had some kind of readout display mounted to a wrist guard.

"Yeah, I'm always trying to improve on my design. As you can see," He gestured once more to the tree. "There's still a few kinks to work out."

"But still that's mighty impressive."

"Thanks, so this your first day too?" Daedalus asked lifting up the heavy pack and slipping it onto his shoulders.

"Yeah, it's been pretty interesting day so far, even before you started that fire." Robin joked following Daedalus as he started walking towards the school.

"Hey man, since _we _started that fire remember? Sharing the blame? 60-40? We just talked about this." The green haired boy joked. "But hey, can't be all bad. You met up with me. Way I figure since we're already partners in crime we might as well stick together."

"Wait a sec, crime? What crime?" Robin asked getting increasingly more nervous.

"Um, hello? Arson? Happened like less than five minutes ago." Daedalus motion back to the tree again before getting back to his little speech. "Try to keep up, anywho, way I see it we stick together and between my brilliant genius and your…" He paused looking over to Robin expectantly for a few seconds. "Neat little hat, we won't just be two nameless huntsmen in-training, we'll be the biggest thing to hit Vale since Schnee brand Dust." Daedalus finished pulling Robin in close as he pointed in the direction of their imaginary bright future.

"Sure man, whatever you say." Robin laughed playfully shoving the explosives expert off of him.

"Hey man, think about it. This is a once in a life time offer. Pass it up and I won't just take you back once all the girls have lined up looking to get a piece of the D." He said stopping to do his best cool guy pose. Robin stared at him unimpressed. There was a moment of pure silence, neither of them moving or changing their expression. After a few more seconds Robin finally broke the silence.

"How long did it take you to come up with that one?"

"Only a few hours, I mean what are you talking about? That was completely off the cuff." He jogged after Robin who had started moving on ahead. "Hey a man's gotta have goals dude. It's not like you're just gonna bump into the girl of your dreams walking down the street."

Before Robin could respond he collided with something and was for the second time that day knocked to the ground followed by a cry of "Hey watch it freak." Robin groan inwardly. "_Man I gotta stop bumping into people._" He looked up and immediately wished that he hadn't. Staring down at him was what Robin's shelter little mind could only imagine as the most intimidating woman he'd ever seen. Her violet hair was shaved into a Mohawk that hung down covering the top left side of her face. Her ears were full of painful looking piercing and her black painted lips were pulled tight into a scowl. She wore a black and purple half top with black suspenders attached to her baggy black cargo pants and what looked like a pair of gold plated handcuffs, each with a long gold chain connected to one of the pair of rather unpleasant looking knives sheathed in her shoulder holsters. She bent down to eye level prepared to further berate him. "Now listen here you little…" She broke off seeming to stare him in the face for a moment before a predatory smirk played across her lips. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Uh…um…my uh…" Robin stammered really not sure what to say to the frightening girl.

"Oh real sorry about that. This here is Robin, I'm Dae and we were just…" Daedalus interrupted trying to save his new found friend.

"Wasn't talking to you scorch mark." The girl barked silencing the green haired teen before turning back to Robin with a smile. "Robin huh? You've got nice eyes Robin."

"Oh…um thanks." Robin said blushing at the odd compliment hoping the situation was on its way towards resolving itself.

"I think I'll make you my pet." The purple haired girl said matter-of-factly.

"You're what?"

"Say what now?" The two boys were both equally taken aback now.

"Yeah I like the sound of that." She went on taking Robin's chin between her thumb and forefinger, "Course I'll have to train you a bit first, maybe get a collar." Before she could go on a similarly dressed girl with long black hair called to her from a little ways down the main path.

"Hey Eris! Hurry it up, boss wants to meet up with us before the opening ceremony." She yelled.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm coming!" She hollered back angrily at the unwanted interruption before turning back to the nervous boy at her feet. "I'll catch up with you later little guy so you better behave yourself." She said running her finger up from under Robin's chin before leaving to meet up with her friend.

Robin and Daedalus stayed there in silence for a few moments watching the strange girl walk off before Robin finally spoke up. "You're were right Dae."

"I was?"

"Yeah." He said still sitting on the ground with an uneasy look on his face. "That was definitely NOT the girl of my dreams." He finally picked himself off the ground. "I have got to stop bumping into people."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea man." Daedalus agreed. "I say we head for the opening ceremony before we push the strange meter into the red."

"Agreed." The two boys made their way to the main campus with only little difficulty, getting turned around only once or twice. Both were stunned when they entered the expansive main hall full to bursting with students. Robin steered Daedalus towards a small open patch in the crowd, trying to avoid eye contact with the Browning brothers not far from them and hoping not to run into the strange violet Mohawked girl again so soon. After a few minutes the crowd was silenced by the sound of a microphone coming to life on the main stage at the front of the hall. Robin recognized the Headmaster who'd visited him at his family's cabin standing on the stage, mug in hand with the woman from the hologram on the ship standing just behind him.

"Hello, some of you already know who I am. My name is Professor Ozpin, and I am the headmaster of this academy. You have all traveled here today hoping to take your first steps towards becoming something more than you are. A warrior. A protector. A hero. But I am here to tell you that this journey will not be an easy one. You will face challenges and adversities and it will be up to you if you can conquer them and move onward. The path is open, and I wish you luck on your journeys." He finished and made his way off the stage and the woman took the mic. "You will gather in the ball room tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. Dismissed." The crowd began to murmur once again.

"Well that was…something." Daedalus finally said with a perplexed expression.

"Yeah, he seems kinda…cryptic…like all the time." Robin agreed as they followed the mass of students. They were lead to a large cafeteria where they shared a small dinner and Daedalus spent the meal regaling Robin of his exploits at Signal. Once dinner was over they were lead towards the ball room and allowed to begin preparing for bed, once more assured that they would need all their rest for the day to come. Robin changed into his bed clothes, a simple black t-shirt, black pj bottoms, and his red cap and walked back into the ball room with his sleeping bag. He found Daedalus sitting cross legged on his own sleeping bag with his tools scattered and strewn about and his Dynamic Fulcrum sitting at his side as he seemed to be taking something apart intently. "What you doing?" Robin asked unrolling his sleeping bag and plopping down next to his friend.

"System upgrade. You know those scroll things they handed out around dinner?" He asked tinkering with a circuit board.

"Yeah, what about 'um?" Robin asked pulling his own out and looking it over.

"Well since we gotta be at the top of our game tomorrow I figured I'd wire this into Fulcrum and Dix. Got a few handy function I wanna try out." Daedalus explained scavenging a few chips from the circuit board.

"Dix?" Robin asked a little confused vaguely recollecting the name from some of Dae's earlier stories.

"Oh right I haven't introduced you guys yet." Daedalus pushed a button on his hollow display. "Dix say hello."

"_Hello. I am Perdix. Nice to meet you._" A computerized voice came from Daedalus' wrist startling Robin.

"Holy cow! What was that?"

"That was Dix. My handy dandy A.I." Daedalus joked. "_Indeed. I am an artificial intelligence designed by Daedalus to assist in the control of Dynamic Fulcrum's ancillary systems and the dissemination of relevant and irrelevant combat data._" The disembodied voice tried to explain to an obviously confused Robin. "Yeesh Dix. What did I tell you about using too many big words at once?" Daedalus chastised before turning back to Robin. "He's a little computer man who helps me work Fulcrum and tells me when something's about to go wrong."

"Ooooh." Robin said grateful to finally be able to figure out what was going on.

"Yeah, working Fulcrum is a two man job so he comes in handy." Daedalus went on inserting the scavenged chips into the ports on his wrist guard and punching in some keys, "And once you get to know him you'll realize he has the sense of humor of a punch-card."

"_In my defense I would like to point out that any deficiencies in my current operating systems stem not from the programs themselves, but rather the programmer._" Perdix countered back earning a laugh from Robin and a scowl from his creator.

"Okay, that's enough out of you." Daedalus pressed a button on his display and muted the A.I. once more. "Man, this is what I get for teaching an A.I. to understand sarcasm." He sighed before glancing around the room and leaning in towards Robin. "Hey so did you hear?"

"Hear what?" Robin asked intrigued by what Dae might have to say.

"Word round here is they're gonna have us start splitting us into teams or something starting tomorrow." Daedalus whispered.

"Teams?" Robin murmured with a gulp already feeling out of his element.

"Yeah, way I figure, right now everyone's evaluating their chances at making the best team and scouting out the competition." Daedalus explained.

"There really that much competition to be worried about?" Robin asked trying to alleviate his fears a bit.

"Are you kidding me? Right now we've got a who's who of the best young hunters in all of Vale just in this room. Sigurd Sigmund, Djack Scratch, Perciva Gawaine, and most importantly Sinclair Windsor." The green haired boy lectured vehemently.

"Wow…um…what makes that last guy so special?" Robin asked a little afraid of the answer he might get.

"Seriously? Are you for real? Have you been living under a rock or something man?" Daedalus almost shouted at this point.

"Close, Leafcrown Village." Robin replied.

"Okay well Sinclair is a freaking prodigy. Valedictorian of this year's Signal class, reigning champion of the last three Vale Junior Huntsmen tournaments, and winner of last year's Mistral tournament. This guy is so strong they just started calling him The Conqueror after a while. Pretty much everybody here wants to be on his team." Daedalus explained.

"Wow, sounds like a pretty cool guy." An unfamiliar voice chimed in starling the two boys out of their conversation. Robin turned to find Peizhi standing there smiling in a pink tank top and pajama pants.

"It's you." He exclaimed pointing to the Faunus.

"Yup, it's me."

"Who's she?" Daedalus chimed in already lost. Robin then set about explaining the embarrassing story of how he and the girl were acquainted.

_**On the other side of the ballroom**__**…**_

Eris sat on the windowsill lazily listening as a dark haired boy dressed in plush black robe and black pajama bottoms decorated with little jack-o-lanterns finished explaining his plan while the black haired girl she was with earlier sat on nearby cot staring up dreamily at the boy in front of her. "So what do you say Eris? Way I figure it, it's a win-win." He asked expectantly.

"Sounds pretty good." She replied in an uninterested tone while lazily scanning the room until her eyes landed on a familiar red cap and a smile played across her lips. She hopped down from her seat and started making her way to her goal. "I'll get back to ya about it."

"Alright, but this offer won't last forever." The boy went on while Eris left.

"Whatever you say Djack." She called back with a wave, her prey already in her sights.

_**Back at the other side of the room**__**…**_

"Wow, you really do have a problem with running into people today." Daedalus said once Robin had finished his story.

"Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing all day man." Robin watched as the color seemed to drain from Daedalus' face. "Hey man what's wrong?" Before he could get his answer another voice chimed in from behind him.

"There's my little pet." The hairs on the back of Robin's neck stood on end. "I've been looking everywhere for you." Eris almost purred. Before Robin even had the chance to contemplate escape Eris plopped down behind him and draped her pale arms over his shoulders and leaned in close to his ear. "I think I'll get you that collar after all." She looked up finally acknowledging the other two in the group and directed a harsh glare to the Faunus directly in front of them. "Who's the cat-girl?"

"Oh I'm Peizhi." She replied seemingly unaffected by the overly possessive display. "I ran into Robin earlier when he was getting bullied."

Eris' arms squeezed Robin tighter and gave him a stare that almost made the already uncomfortable boy breakout in a cold sweat. "I thought I told you to stay out of trouble til I found you again."

"From what I understand this all happened before he even ran into you." Daedalus interjected not looking up from his next set of upgrades, trying to throw his friend a metaphorical life preserver while actively trying not to get pulled into anything involving the violet haired girl.

"Well then I guess I can let you off the hook this time." Eris' tone softened a little. "Now how about you point me in the direction of whoever was bullying you so I can have a little talk with them."

"No! I mean, no it's fine. You really don't have to do that." Robin tried to placate the aggressive girl, already farther out of his depth than he ever could have imagined.

"Fine." Eris sighed. "That just give us more time to get to know each other. So let's get comfortable and maybe even take this silly hat off." Eris said attempting to pull off the cap by one of its tails.

"No!" Robin cried grabbing the hat by the rim and holding it tightly in place. There was a moment of absolute silence among the group until Robin composed himself. "This hat is special alright."

Eris let out a huff, "Fine. I guess it's okay if you keep the hat. Besides" She lifted both tails in the air, "I always wanted a pet bunny growing up." Robin couldn't hold back a blush as Peizhi laughed at the whole situation still uncertain of what exactly was going on.

"Thanks…um, can you let me go for a minute. I have to use the bathroom." Robin asked hoping to get a reprieve from the girl.

"Alright, but I'll be waiting right here for you. Don't keep me waiting too long." Eris said taking a very dominant tone as she released the younger boy from her clutches.

"D-don't worry I won't take long." Robin said with a nervous smile as he got up watching as Daedalus tried to inconspicuously mouth, "_Get out while you still can._", and Peizhi tried to strike up conversation with Eris who seemed equal parts unwilling and uninterested.

Once Robin was outside the ballroom he slumped against the wall and released a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. "_Grandpa said that people outside the village could be mighty strange, but this is ridiculous._" He thought to himself. Robin decided to take this time to formulate a plan to deal with the strange and possessive girl. After several moments however Robin was unable to think of anything and could only hope Daedalus wouldn't abandon him in his hour of need. Standing up from his spot on the floor Robin turned to head back to the ballroom when he collided with something and fell backwards. "_Seriously? Why does this keep happening?!_" Robin screamed inside his head as he looked up at the latest person he'd walked into.

The boy was tall and thin, but well-toned. He had snow white hair and piercing blue eyes and was dressed in a white night shirt and gray sweat pants. He stared down at Robin coldly. "You should pay more attention to where you're going."

Before Robin had a chance to stammer an apology there was a shout from down the hall. "There you are!" The voice was boisterous and feminine. Looking down the hall Robin recognized the girl he'd seen on the airship earlier with the lance, now dressed an army green t-shirt and camo shorts. "You're a hard man to talk to Sinclair." She said marching right up to the taller boy.

"What do you want Gawaine?" Sinclair said with an irritated tone.

"Just heard that there's talks of teams being made. I thought maybe you might be interested in becoming partners. Between the two of us I doubt there's much of anything that could get in our way." The blond proposed.

"Let me make one thing clear." Sinclair's eyes took on an intimidating steely quality. "I have no interest in teams or partners. Whatever happens tomorrow, I will destroy anything that gets in my way." And with that he turned and started making his way back down the hallway.

A look of eager determination played across the girls face. "Then I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow then." She called after him before returning to the ballroom.

Robin sat there thankful he'd gone relatively unnoticed throughout the intense exchange. As he made his way back to the other Daedalus seemed to notice something as up, "What happened to you..." Then as if reading everything from just Robin's expression. "Don't tell me you…" Robin merely nodded his head. "Save it, I don't wanna know."

_**Beacon Cliffs: The next morning**__**…**_

The students gathered along the cliffs after being directed to each stand on one of the small metal platforms set along the cliff's edge. Despite their best efforts to separate them most of the students congregated with the few friends or allies they'd made the previous day, Robin standing next Daedalus on last and second to last platforms. Robin had lost track of Peizhi shortly before breakfast when he and Daedalus had given Eris the slip. Despite that Robin could see her down the line standing next to the girl they'd saw her with the day before who was dressed in a black top and leather vest with tight black jeans and knee high black studded platform boot with some kind of mechanism built into the heel. Standing next to her Robin was shocked to see the same pumpkin headed boy he saw from the airship the other day, his flying broomstick strapped to his back. A little ways up Robin also spied Sinclair wearing the same icy glare he had had the night before. He was dressed now in a simple white button up shirt with a blue tie and brown slacks with a steel breast plate and hip guards as his only protection. From this distance Robin could only make out the red gripped handle of what seemed to be some kind of sword sheathed on his back.

The murmurs of the students fell silent as Professor Ozpin began walking down the line of students with Glynda close behind. When he came close to Robin and Daedalus' position he stopped and faced the students. "For years you have trained to become warriors. And today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald forest." He said before taking a sip of his coffee allowing Professor Goodwitch to take over for him.

"I'm sure many of you have all heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates, today." She said sternly causing Robin to gulp involuntarily.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozin Said taking over once more. "That being said the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Murmurs ran through the crowd of students along the cliff. "After you've partnered up you will make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die." The Professor gazed meaningfully at the students as he said this. "You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item and as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Any questions?" Daedalus raised a hand with questioning look on his face. "Good." With that Professor Goodwitch pressed a button on her scroll and a loud metallic twang could be heard from the far end of the line.

"Um yeah hi, Daedalus Verde sir. So what did you mean by landing? Are we like parachuting from one of the ships?" He asked as another twang rang out.

"No, that would take far too long." Ozpin answered taking another sip from his mug.

"Um Dae?" Robin began to take notice of what was happening with growing displeasure.

"One second dude."

Down the line Eris readied herself as the catapult chain grew nearer. "Hey Jackie, see that tree about a mile out, let's meet up there." Djack directed pulling a pair of orange lensed goggles over his eyes and unslinging his trusty Candlestick from his back.

"You got it boss!" The black haired girl replied taking a crouching position on her catapult.

"Last chance Eris." Djack called. "You in or not?"

Eris peered down the line seeing a nervous Robin trying to get his green haired friends attention. "Sure you got yourself a deal. One condition though."

"What's that?"

Eris grinned a feral grin. "I get to choose my own partner."

"Sure. Just try to keep up." And with that Djack was launched into the sky.

At the end of the line Daedalus was still trying to find an answer to his question. "So if you aren't transporting us out there how do we get down there? Wait, are you giving us jetpacks or something?" The young inventor's eyes seemed to sparkle at the idea.

"Goodness no, even if we had such things we wouldn't waste them on something like this."

"Dae." Robin pleaded as their turn in the line was fast approaching.

"Just hold on Rob." Daedalus scolded. "Then how are we even supposed to..."

DAE!" Robin almost screamed at his friend.

"What?!" Daedalus shouted turning towards his friend in time to watch several student get launched into the sky. He turned to the grey haired headmaster with a sour expression on his face. "I hate you so much right now." He managed to get out before they were launched over the cliff, Ozpin watching their arc through the air with concealed amusement.

* * *

**And there you have it. I had a lot of fun slipping in cameos from the different members of the soon to be main cast with this one.**

**Next up is The Initiation pt 1**

**Hope to hear from you guys soon. **


End file.
